LOSE WEIGHT FAST!!!! And other claims….

We’ve all heard these claims before; the “fat burning pills”; “HCG diet” and thousands of other unhealthy diet claims out there. These all claim to help you lose fat and weight SUPER fast! What they are really doing is selling you a piece of crap and then they tell you to follow their ULTRA low-calorie diets. They claim you are going to lose so much weight…and ARE you going to lose the weight on these super low calorie diets?

Duh!

At least for a short period of time, and then you are likely to gain it all back and then some!!!

This happens in the diet industry as well as those training for extreme fitness competitions. The competitors are given super low diets to lose weight fast; and they succeed in that. But usually after the competition is done, and since they’ve been on such a restricted calorie and nutrient diet; they balloon up when they return to “normal” eating and gain all the weight back.

This is typically referred to as “The Starvation Effect”.

Are you someone who has lost weight before and eventually gained it all back (and then some) and then hit a plateau? So many of us suffer this fact since we’ve followed a super low calorie diet; and then BOOM! our body just STOPS losing weight.

I see you nodding out there! 😉

This can be sooo frustrating! Especially for those of you who tell me you are barely eating anything and still not losing weight! Another issue I hear from clients is that they are eating SUPER clean foods and exercising like a fiend and the scale is just not budging!

These are real claims and these people know their bodies and they know that if they eat more, they will gain weight. There is an explanation for all of these issues and let’s visit what is occurring. For reference sake, when I say “A super low calorie diet”, I mean something that ranges from 500-800 calories a day.

The “HCG” diet says to eat 500 calories a day…What???? I would NEVER be able to even visit this low range each day and yet people do…and they WILL lose weight initially. This is the “exciting” part of the diet. Weight loss starts to happen in a fast and significant way and they become “believers” in the plan…

Until…

the body kicks into gear and sees you are not getting enough calories to sustain. Bottom line; your body needs a certain amount of calories every day to function normally…regardless of any workouts or activity. This is just your “caloric base” or “BMR”…this is just for survival. Since you are not getting enough calories to sustain the basic daily functions; your body goes into protection mode and lowers your BMR. What does this mean? It means you stop burning as much as you used to.

Here is what happens to your body when you go on a super low calorie diet and don’t get in enough calories to sustain your daily energy:

#1 Your metabolism slows. you may have less energy and you may not even notice it enough yet.

#2 You become HUNGRY!!! This, again, is your body’s way of telling you to get some food in so you don’t die! (hey, it’s actually trying to help us!) At this point, you start to think about food ALL THE TIME!! And not just any foods; you will crave high calorie, high sugar and high fat foods. Your body is again, trying to save you from dying of poor nutrition and these foods that you are craving will solve this issue FAST! 😉

#3 Fat Gain when you stop your low calorie diet and go back to your normal way of eating. This goes back to #1 when your BMR has dropped below your normal rate and although you are eating your “normal” amount of calories and foods; you are not burning as efficiently so the body stores the excess as FAT!

Then what typically happens? We binge when our cravings get to be too strong to overcome and then we feel like we have zero “will power”…there is no such thing! It is all for survival and your body’s natural response to the sudden changes. We tend to go into cycles of “bingeing” and then “restricting” to make up for the extra calories, right?

Wrong!

You will start to put more weight on when you are in the binge phase versus what you lose when you are in your restricted phase. This is compounded over time and we start to gain more weight. (did I hear you say, it’s cuz you’re getting older and that just happens???)

Now, we’re getting into the REAL problems! Tomorrow, I’ll visit some misconceptions that I hear about these and related issues (have you said any of these?).

**If this sounds like something you have been struggling with and you are not sure how to change it and make your body work FOR your success again, let me know. I have a new support group starting soon that will teach how to best balance your caloric needs with the ability to LOSE fat and stop the yo-yo cycle. Send me an email if you’re interested: www.spazzykay@gmail.com